Handcrafted Heartbreak: Our Favorite Swaddling Blanket Will Soon Be Off the Market

One sleepy afternoon this summer, I started snuggling a new naptime lovey: Simply Baby Blankets' seersucker swaddling blanket.

The blanket sat near my favorite napping spot after being used as a dancing cape in the previous evening's family dance party (Ranger is a dance maniac). The seersucker seemed so light and airy that I couldn't resist pulling it over me for a few minutes of shut-eye. The fabric was cool and soothing. It became a napping staple well into the chill of late Fall.

It's rare to find a baby blanket big enough for an adult to nap under. The size of Simply Baby Blankets' swaddlers hooked me. With long, tall Ranger, we quickly ran out of blankets large enough to wrap him. Fortunately, one of Jim's coworkers made Ranger a few oversized flannel blankets to fill the gap left by store-bought blankets.

The mom and pop team of Rachel and John Greene experienced the same problem in 2007 and have answered it with their large, well-made swaddling blankets. John's mom suggested a seersucker blanket for the summer months which (I speak from experience here) is the perfect weight for summer napping. Comforting and cool.

They're also HUGE at 42 by 50 inches (as are their flannel counterparts)- much larger than our mass market baby blankets. In the photo, the white flannel blanket is a standard Carter's receiving blanket, the rectangular blue one under it is a cotton Carter's baby blanket, and the square blue blanket is a Gerber cotton thermal blanket. Ranger couldn't resist their allure when I spread them out on the floor. The blankets are the perfect size for toddler beds and crib blankets (for toddlers, not babies).

Simply Baby Blankets are well-made and should last through numerous children.

Sadly, the Greenes are one of many family handcrafting entrepreneurs troubled by the soon-to-be implemented Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. Their beautiful blankets may be off the market as of February 10th, 2009. They've reduced their entire blanket stock to 50% off ($6 for flannel, $8 for seersucker, and $10 for luxury flannel) as they will no longer be able to sell them after February 10th.

Please do yourself a favor and pick up some of their seersucker and flannel lovelies. If you're swaddling, your baby will love them; they're fabulous baby gifts, exquisite summer napping covers, and exceptional dancing capes.

Please call or write your representatives so families like the Greenes can continue to produce and sell quality goods in the United States.

Are you stocking up on handcrafted favorites?
Have you heard anything interesting from your representatives?

All Shook Up: Win HABA's (discountinued) Dice Tumbler

Although we made a cheap imitation of this great product in 2006, our substitute fell short of the glorious original (which may actually be one of Plato's ideal types).

HABA, for reasons we cannot even venture to guess, discontinued the brilliant $5 Dice Tumbler last year.

I was practically giddy (thinking them re-issued) to see them stocked at my fabulous local toy store. Sadly, they are no longer being made, but the owner bought a lot of them when she heard they were going off the market. And she sells them for $4.98, their original price (again, the store is truly fabulous).

The bottom of the dome unscrews very easily with a coin and it can hold quite a few dice (though maybe not enough for Descent).

It also works as a stand-alone toddler amusement. Ranger likes to play with it with a few random objects inside (currently it houses two fuzzy craft pompoms).

WANT TO WIN ONE?
We bought an extra for a lucky Baby Toolkit reader. CONTEST ENDED February 29, 2008 (leap year day!). We welcome international entries in this contest- though it'll probably be shipped by the most economical (aka slowest possible) conveyance.

General disclaimers regarding contests on Baby Toolkit: we'll do our best but we can't guarantee the same efforts from the postal system. If a prize item were to be lost in the lost in the mail, we would take it as a message from a higher power that the situation was simply not meant to be (no compensation or replacement will be issued). We will use a random integer generator at random.org to determine a winner. Jim, Adrienne, their parents, and Ranger are not eligible for this contest. We respect your privacy and will not use your personal information for any purpose beyond determining a winner.

And, if you don't feel lucky today- or simply want to buy one- you can call the great people at my favorite local toy store [Toys To Treasure, (812) 477-2720] who still have some in stock. They don't have a web site, but they can ship credit card orders at reasonable rates.

***This is the independent, unsolicited, unprofessional, and sometimes random opinion of the geek parents at Baby Toolkit. While we love the HABA dice tumbler and our local toy store, we're shoppers and fans- not affiliates, partners, or beneficiaries. Baby Toolkit, (c) 2008.